This weekend has seen further arguments, mainly through the media, between British Airways and Unite regarding the cabin crew strike. Unite claim that only 9 out of the 1,110 rostered crew turned up at Heathrow, however BA fervently dismiss this, stating that this number would not be enough to man even one flight. They claim that over 55% of the crew turned up, and in fact more crew than they were expecting.

There are conflicting reports in the press, with different media choosing to cover the strike from a different angle. Some focus on stories of travel misery, interviewing people whose flights have been cancelled, whereas others have taken a less sensationalist angle and have quoted passengers at Terminal 5 who state that they hadn’t really noticed any disruption.

As both sides state that they are winning, one thing that seems certain is that this dispute seems unlikely to be resolved any time soon and the strike next week seems likely. A lot can happen in a week however, so if the lines of communication are opened once more then who knows whether an agreement can be reached. A source at Unite is quoted as saying “We are up for a deal but it cannot be just any old deal. It has to be one that we can live with.”

I’ll keep the blog updated with news on the situation and any progress on whether the next strike will go ahead or not.